This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 541

I can’t help but notice that you seem a bit dazed, probably from concentrating too hard on your training. So, I decided to take a moment and bring my Senior with me to grab some lunch.

But what’s this sudden noise all about?

“Doyun?” I asked, genuinely puzzled.

“Who’s that?”

The reaction I got from my Senior was shockingly awkward, leaving me tilting my head in confusion again. Who could Doyun be to provoke such a response?

It almost felt like someone was caught doing something sneaky.

“Anyway, what’s the deal?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your name. Do you think it’s nice?”

I didn’t want to dismiss Yoonseo’s question altogether, so I pondered it for a while. Doyun… the sound of it wasn’t terrible, I suppose.

“Is it a girl’s name?”

“Uh, why?”

“It kinda sounds like a boy’s name to me.”

If it had been something like Seoyoon or Soyoon, I’d have thought, “Oh, it’s definitely a girl’s name.” But Doyun felt like a toss-up between genders.

When I casually mentioned that, Yoonseo’s face went gloomy.

That took me by surprise; I didn’t see that reaction coming at all.

“Is that so…? But isn’t it okay?”

“No, what I mean is… Doyun doesn’t seem purely feminine or masculine, it’s a bit androgynous.”

So who exactly is this Doyun that makes everyone react like that?

If Yoonseo was close to them, I definitely would have heard about it; today was the first time I’d ever heard the name Doyun.

While I was stuck in confusion, my Senior returned from the bathroom where she had gone to wash her hands.

“What were you two talking about?”

One of us looking tormented and the other deep in thought must have raised her suspicions.

“Could you let me know what’s going on?” Her tone suggested she wanted some details.

“Oh, it’s just… I was asked.”

I honestly answered, which only made my Senior’s puzzled expression intensify.

In the midst of that awkward tension, her gaze drifted back to Yoonseo, who was still choking on her food.

Then my Senior started scanning Yoonseo from head to toe.

Eventually, she sighed and spoke up like she was about to say something serious.

“I’m just asking out of curiosity, but Yoonseo, are you…?”

“Are you crazy?! It’s not like that at all?!”

“Then why’d you suddenly throw that question at Dogun?”

“I mean, I just…”

“If it’s Doyun, you took a letter from both your names, right? And you still deny it?”

Only after hearing them volley that back and forth did it click for me.

I understood why my Senior reacted so awkwardly, and even why Yoonseo was coughing so much in disbelief at me asking such a question.

Without realizing it, I swallowed hard, feeling an odd lump in my throat.

What’s up with the name Doyun? It sounded strangely familiar.

I couldn’t help but think, ‘Did I use that name recently when I was with Yoonseo?’

I had to reckon with that conclusion.

But it also made me uneasy.

Thinking so simply could just lead to disaster… since perfect contraception is essentially not doing it at all.

Even if you think nothing could go wrong with everything well accounted for, surprises can still happen, leading to complications like an unexpected pregnancy.

‘Of course, I wouldn’t mind, but…’

I’d never contemplated something like this, and it left me feeling bewildered.

Not to mention that for Yoonseo, one year could be critical right now.

It was the same with my Senior Chae-rim, so whenever we got frisky, she was always in the mix.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that my thoughts must have shown on my face.

Yoonseo burst out again, “I swear, it’s really not what you think!”

“Then why bring it up out of the blue?”

“Well, I… it’s just that someday it could happen!”

“Huh?”

“…right?”

“Oh, well, yeah, but…”

“I was just thinking about names, and then out of nowhere, I got curious what you’d think!”

Was it really that embarrassing to have to explain all of that?

Yoonseo’s face flushed even deeper, and she spoke in a barely audible whisper as she finished her explanation.

Seeing her like that made it hard for me to do anything but nod in acknowledgment.

After that unexpected commotion quieted down, we opened our now slightly cold lunches.

But perhaps it was still too fresh in our minds…

Our meal proceeded in a suffocating atmosphere where clarity was hard to come by.

It was nearly impossible to tell if the rice was going in my mouth or my nose.

We had more training coming up, so I couldn’t just leave our meals untouched after opening them up, so I was desperately shoveling food into my mouth.

While I was trying not to get too stuffed, my Senior suddenly spoke up.

“Dogun.”

“Yes, what is it?”

“For a baby name, how about Dohwa? Seems a bit odd, right?”

While focusing on my food, I could tell she was pondering something deeper.

Out of the blue, her question hit me like a ton of bricks.

I’d never felt this particular sensation of food sticking in my throat until now.

What was she thinking for that serious expression to cross her face?

And then it hit me—she might actually be considering this seriously.

Caught between embarrassment and confusion, I couldn’t stop coughing.

Only after chugging down the miso soup and the water Yoonseo gave me could I finally escape from the torment of choking.

But the real problem was just as I escaped one torment, another awaited me.

“Hmmm… Dohwa…”

Look at that serious face.

She started this whole thing and just look at that scary expression!

“I don’t think it sounds bad.”

“Really? Hmm…”

“Yeah, the name itself isn’t bad, but attaching the last name makes it feel off.”

“Why? What’s wrong with Baek?”

“Listen, if you combine it to form Baek Dohwa, you’d have kids running around calling her a peach!”

“Kuh…”